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Enys Men

Enys Men

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Summary

Psychological horror starring Mary Woodvine. In 1973, a Wildlife Trust volunteer living in isolation on a small Cornish island begins to experience bizarre and powerful hallucinations, seemingly connected to the rare flower that she has been sent to observe.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Having explored gentrification in his Bafta-winning debut Bait (2019), Cornish auteur Mark Jenkin switches focus entirely for this more psychedelic second feature. Wildlife Trust volunteer Mary Woodvine follows a rigid routine as the sole inhabitant of a remote island during spring 1973. But, as she makes her daily trek to record soil conditions around a rare clifftop flower, she starts to experience startling hallucinations, as well as visions involving the island's seafaring and tin-mining histories. Moreover, she develops a rash on her torso that matches the lichen growing on the menhir that gives Enys Men ("Stone Island") its name. Once again shooting on grainy 16mm film (this time in colour) with antiquated cameras, Jenkin draws attention to the tone and texture of his images. However, he makes more expressive use of the soundscape to reinforce Woodvine's growing disconcert, as her own sense of self begins to blur. Full of folk horror tropes and cinematic homages, this is a weird and wilfully individual piece that turns the ecological notion of natural harmony into something of a ghost story. It's undeniably challenging. But it's also rather bold, brittle and beguiling.

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5.6/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameThe VolunteerMary WoodvineThe BoatmanEdward RoweThe GirlFlo CroweThe PreacherJohn WoodvineThe MinerJoe GrayThe BabyLoveday Twomlow

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Crew

rolenameDirectorMark Jenkin

Details

Theatrical distributor

BFI

Released on

2023-01-13

Languages

English | Cornish

Guidance

Swearing, upsetting scenes, a sex scene, nudity.

Formats

Colour

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